An Air India Colombo-Chennai flight carrying 158 passengers suffered a bird hit on Tuesday, forcing the airline to cancel its return journey, airport authorities said. The aircraft landed safely, and all the passengers were safely disembarked from the plane.
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The bird hit was detected after it touched down at the airport here, the authorities added. The aircraft has been grounded, and extensive checks were carried out by the Air India engineers and the airline officials cancelled its return journey due to the incident.
“On 7 October, the flight crew of AI273 operating from Chennai to Colombo, reported a suspected bird strike. After landing at Colombo, the engineers who inspected the aircraft found no damage, and the aircraft was cleared for operation. The same aircraft operated flight AI274 from Colombo to Chennai as per schedule. Upon routine post-flight checks at Chennai, the engineers observed an impact on an engine blade. Consequently, the aircraft has been grounded for further inspections and to ascertain the cause of the damage,” said Air India Spokesperson.
The airliner arranged another aircraft for 137 passengers who later left for Colombo.